Works in Progress, Wednesday

I’m not Jewish, nor a DIYer, but I do have some projects in mind for the spring and summer that I thought it would be fun to blog about a little, and I thought Decemberbaby’sWIP Wednesdays would be a fun way to do it. Without further ado, here are my top projects right now:

Potty Training Oz

I think he is so ready. Every time I take his sister to the potty, he follows along and sits on the extra back-up potty we have (fully clothed). Recently he has started pointing at his nethers when he’s doing business in his diaper, complaining about wet diapers more often, and even pulling his own pants up and down.

Progress: Monday I bought underpants, pull-ups, M&M rewards, and some summer T-shirts (all he has now are onesies). I debated about getting him his very own potty, but I didn’t because we already have two, plus a toilet-top ring, and if I did get him one I’m sure his sister would commandeer it anyway. I just have to set a start date and DO IT.

Urban Balcony Garden

We get lots of sun on our balcony all summer; I’ve already started some cilantro seeds in an egg carton, but I need to get some more planters. I don’t mind using cut-open plastic bottles (there’s no recycling here) but I do want a few that are bigger, for bigger plants. I’m saving some cherry tomato seeds to start. I’ll have to buy dirt too. I really want to do a compost bin as well but I know nothing about urban composting. I need to do some web research on this. I’m so tired of throwing out lovely vegetable scraps every day.

Healthier Eating

My New Year’s resolution to eat less meat is going well, but the corollary of eating more fruits and vegetables and less salt is not. I’m exercising LESS and feeling blah. I need to get my husband into better eating habits too. The kids are a challenge right now as they are getting more and more picky….

Progress: I had a bunch of spinach in the freezer that I finally figured out how to use – I made spinach tortillas! It was soooo easy. Too bad Oz spit them out and Illyria refused to even try them. Gimli liked them, and I did too.

I’m not much of a cook – I get into ruts where I cook the same 3-4 dishes in rotation for months (this winter we ate a lot of potato-leek soup, based on the recipe posted by the Yarn Harlot. By “a lot” I mean at least twice a week). So I was happy to do something new. This is how lame a cook I am – this is the very first time I have ever made my own tortillas. Less than a year ago I learned how to make grilled cheese by looking it up on the internet. That is how pathetic a cook I am.

If you have any good, EASY spring-produce recipe ideas I’m all ears – it has to be simple (4 ingredients or less, not counting seasoning; I don’t do yeast; I’m very lazy about measuring anything – I don’t even own measuring cups or spoons right now, I just use kitchen utensils). Bonus if it’s a pasta dish!

Dissertation

I thought I might post some periodic updates here just to keep myself honest. This month SUCKED for dissertation progress. Some was external factors, some was just my own lack of self-discipline. I’m not going to meet my work-hour goals this month. I’m not even done transcribing my interviews. (In other words, when people ask me how the dissertation-writing is going… I haven’t even STARTED the writing part.) I’m starting to get excited, though, about getting back into reading theory, and beginning to dig into analysis. It is harder to track progress with those things, but on the whole it’s a lot more interesting work!

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I don’t do urban composting either, but I do tend to stir, at intervals, the kitchen waste straight into the pot soil…not a great thing, but a shortcut. It is definitely not an efficient way of recycling the kitchen waste.

And lady, get down to the writing part. You won’t finish it, if you won’t begin it. Gather some determination, and do it!

usually urban composting involves worms & i’m not sure how you’d do that there or if it would be worth the hassle unless you could pass the system on.
can you get fat-free evaporated milk? i have a light version of a “cream”-sauced pasta that includes one starring veg: asparagus, peas, broc, or mushrooms. otherwise, I’ve got to say that low ingredient, healthy vegetarian dishes that are tasty & kids (W that is- Z eats almost anything) like are rare- in my experience. spring is particularly difficult as the food often revolves around things like salads or other greens which my kids won’t touch- texture issues. I have taken to just adding some very small diced veggies (carrots, beans, peas) to most any dish I’m already preparing (or finely shredded greens to if I know W won’t touch it).

That’s a good point about passing the system on once we leave – it is a long-term commitment, isn’t it? You know I made a melt-in-your-mouth cream of broccoli soup a few weeks ago, with regular milk – I can get fat-free but I’m not ready to go that hard-core yet 🙂 I don’t think the kids liked it though. I think I might have to broaden my search parameters on this one.